1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is an improvement over ribbons or strips used to mark off work or hazardous areas. More specifically the present invention provides for a fence type barrier to be formed by portions of the ribbon or strip.
2. Summary of the Prior Art
Tapes, ribbons or strips, usually of highly flexible resinous material, are commonly used between elevated supports to prevent pedestrians or vehicles from entering hazardous areas. Often, the tape material is brightly colored, frequently yellow or orange, and may additionally have some sort of cautionary message printed on the tape in contrasting colors, such as black. Frequently the word “caution” is repeated along the ribbon, for example. Thus, when the ribbon or tape serves as a barrier, its bright color allows it to be seen more readily, and the written message warns people not to enter the area beyond or to proceed cautiously. This type of tape or ribbon is very popular because it is easy to handle and can be tied between most permanent or temporary structures.
Partially rigid plastic fence material is also commonly used for the same purpose. The fence material consists of a lattice of plastic with regularly spaced voids. This material is often purchased in rolls, having a pre-specified width. This width defines the height of the fence. The material is unrolled and cut to a desired length. The fence material is then tied to elevated support structures to create the barrier. Often the plastic material is brightly colored, usually orange for example. The fence does not inherently supply a cautionary message since the plastic lattice members are too small to support a meaningful visual display.
No product currently exists that produces a fence barrier that expands from a roll of flexible tape, ribbon, or strip. The prior art comprises products that expand to produce lattice structures. Most of these are inappropriate for use as a fence barrier. Many produce rigid lattice structures. Examples of these are shipping trays, sun screens, bird repellents, air cleaners, and filter units. Others produce flexible lattice structures. One example is a slitted wrapper for packaged produce. Another example is the sheet material described in Guenther Horst Tesch's U.S. Pat. No. 3,655,501 entitled FLEXIBLE MATERIALS, and patented on Apr. 11, 1972. Tesch requires at least one non-slip or adhesive surface, without which the expandable/expanded sheet is useless. Also, Tesch requires both faces of the material in use to be covered. All of the flexible lattice structures are produced on sheets of flexible materials that have been pre-cut to a specific size. No currently available product is created as a tape roll of undetermined length or a web which, once unrolled and tied to elevated structures separated by any reasonable distance, can be further expanded by the additional step of pulling the tape in the width direction, thereby forming a lattice or fence.